P. Herman, Wrote Theme For Radio Show

OBITUARIES

Pinkie Herman, who wrote Manhattan Merry Go Round, the theme for a popular and long-running 1930s radio show, died at his Lauderdale Lakes home on Monday. He was 11 days short of his 89th birthday.

Mr. Herman, whose given name was Pincus, changed his name to Pinkie early in his lyric-writing career.

His most famous tune, Manhattan Merry Go Round, played for 19 years on the radio every Sunday night, said his wife of 65 years, Leonora. The show starred such crooners as Rosemary Clooney, and was a showcase for the popular show tune music of the era.

Mr. Herman enjoyed poetry, starting to write as early as grade school, his wife said. He wrote sparingly while in high school, where he was an accomplished baseball pitcher, at one time playing against future celebrity Ed Sullivan. He was good enough to play semi-pro baseball for a Yonkers team, but decided to write songs after dropping out of New York University.

Mr. Herman started hanging around Tin Pan Alley, New York City's famous Broadway, where accomplished music publishers discovered aspiring musicians, composers and lyricists. "He had a natural talent for lyrics," Leonora Herman said. "He wrote all his life and never stopped loving it."

Mr. Herman wrote many songs, including Myrtle the Turtle and Flip the Frog, Lightouse in the Harbor, Lucky and Seven Days a Week. The Hermans retired to Lauderdale Lakes in 1973. In addition to his wife, Mr. Herman is survived by a son, Jerome, of New York; a granddaughter, Stephanie Wanielista; and a great-granddaughter, Kera Wanielista, both of Boulder, Colo.